


It's Vegas, baby!

by Probably_exhausted



Series: SQW Summer 2016 [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Day 2, F/F, I'm Sorry, Summer 2016, Swan Queen Week, Travel, more stupid fluff, slightly set in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7713826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Probably_exhausted/pseuds/Probably_exhausted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(For Swan Queen Week Summer 2016 - Day 2) Regina starts moping around after Henry has left for college, so Emma decides to take her on a vacation to lift her mood. When they finally end up in Stanford to see Henry, he has a surprise for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Vegas, baby!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This ones slightly longer than yesterday's, but guess who recently went to Vegas? While I was there I couldn't help but think how cute it would be if Emma and Regina went there together, so I guess that's how this idea came about. Enjoy!

“Right. This is stupid now, Gina.” Emma stated, putting her knife and fork down with a harder force than necessary. Regina’s eyes snapped up from where they had been sulking at her plate, her eyebrows raised in confusion. Emma rolled her eyes, running her hand through her long, blonde hair. 

“Henry’s a sophomore now, he’s already survived a year away from us. He’s doing fine. And the kid’s also at one of the best colleges in the country, so stop moping!” Emma finished, realising that she may have been a bit harsher than she had meant to be. Regina’s eyes narrowed at Emma, putting down her own cutlery which she had been using to push her food aimlessly around her plate. 

“I”m not _moping_.” Regina scoffed, leaning back into her chair. Emma sighed, reaching forward for Regina’s hand. Regina opened her hand to let Emma lace her fingers through the brunette’s. A lot had happened between them since Emma had first tumbled into Storybrooke nine years earlier. They had evolved from enemies to ‘you-thought-we-were-friends?’ to ‘married gal pals’, as Emma put it, which managed to annoy Regina no end every time she used the phrase. Regina would usually have to introduce Emma as her wife quickly before the blonde got to speak. When Henry had left for Stanford the year before, the two mothers had no idea what to do with their suddenly empty nest. Henry still needed care from his moms, but Regina’s mansion seemed lonelier and larger without the teen. Henry had come home to visit the weekend before and since he left on Sunday night to catch his flight to California in time for his Monday lectures, Regina had been almost insufferably sulky. 

“I miss him too.” Emma admitted softly, drawing a soft smile from the Mayor. Emma absentmindedly drew small patterns into Regina’s palm, both of them thinking about their son. Emma’s heart fluttered in her chest as the brunette brushed her fingers against Emma’s wrist, giving her a grateful smile. Emma stopped for a second, an idea coursing through her mind. 

“How about we go away?” Emma asked. Regina paused for a second, frowning. 

“Away?” Regina repeated, confused. 

“Yeah. Like a vacation. Just you and me. We’ll get out of this town for a few weeks, go see the rest of the states and maybe we could finish in Stanford and visit Henry.” Emma explained. Storybrooke had been unusually quiet for the past two years and Emma thought she had been coping well with it, having married Regina and all. Seeing Henry go off to college had reminded Emma of the world outside her little magical bubble and in doing so, meant that the bubble was beginning to close in on her. She needed to get out for a bit. 

“That…that doesn’t actually sound like a bad idea.” Regina thought out loud, smiling at her wife. Emma grinned back. “But what will I do about the whole Mayor business?” 

“Give it to Snow for 10 days.”

“10 days?!”

“Okay, a week.”

“No, no, you misunderstood. I don’t mind the 10 days. I mind _Snow_ in my office for a 10 days.”

“She’s not _that_ bad.”

“Need I remind you of the painting?”

“I’ll…get her to take it down before we get back.”

“What about your sheriff post?”

“David.”

“Oh, fabulous, Snow White and her prince are in charge.”

“I thought you guys were all getting on better?”

“I have to. They’re my in-laws.”

“So…will you come?”

“Fine.” Regina conceded, picking up her fork again. Emma nodded, smirking when she saw Regina trying to smother a smile as she looked down at her plate. God, sometimes her wife infuriated her, but she really loved her. 

 

* * *

 

“Miss Swan! Why is it so hot?” Regina exclaimed, angrily lugging her suitcase through McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas. Emma laughed at the disgruntled Mayor, her usual office attire proving too hot for the mid-west summer heat. 

“I did say it would be hot.” Emma shrugged, putting her passport away in her bag as they waited in line for a taxi. Regina grunted, wiping the sweat away from her forehead. 

“You think that the heater in my office is hot, Emma. I thought you meant a nice, warm day. You could have clarified that you meant a _furnace_.” The former Evil Queen snarled, shrugging off her expensive blazer. 

“I’m sorry, your majesty. But you know that they brought internet to Storybrooke, right? You could have looked this up yourself.” Emma rebuked, folding her arms. 

“It’s too hot. I don’t like it.” Regina dismissed, turning away. Emma suppressed a laugh at her wife’s childishness. 

“Look, if you really don’t like it, we can go back. I know it’s a lot after not really leaving Storybrooke for 28 years to just go travelling. But just give it a chance, I think you’ll really like this trip.” Emma asked. Regina immediately softened, taking Emma’s hand. 

“I’m sorry. I was just a bit overwhelmed with the flight.” Regina explained. Emma nodded, bringing Regina’s hand up to her lips and kissing it. Emma remembered that Regina had seemed terrified and amazed the moment their small plane had taken off, probably still feeling a bit shaky from airport security and the invasiveness of having to be questioned after the system kept on rejecting the existence of a ‘Regina Mills’. Emma had had to call Gold who resolved the issue from Storybrooke. Their moment was interrupted by being called forward towards a taxi, the driver helping them place Emma’s and Regina’s much larger bag into the car. When they were driven further into the city, Regina’s complaints fell silent as the former Queen looked around in amazement and confusion. 

“What is this place?” Regina asked, her eyebrows furrowing. 

“Vegas, baby.” Emma laughed, taking her wife’s hand. Regina was enraptured with the bright lights, crowds of people and randomly placed landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building. The cab turned off the main boulevard and into a hotel entrance, Emma quickly handing the driver the fare and helping Regina out. 

“We’re staying in the New York, New York. I couldn’t really afford Caesar’s, sorry about that. Basically, every hotel is themed and…well, you’ll see.” Emma explained, realising that her explanation was falling on dead ears as Regina was concentrated on the rollercoaster that was flying around their hotel. “Babe?”

“Pardon?” Regina whispered, her dark eyes wide. Emma laughed at how overwhelmed the other woman was, handing her suitcase to her. Emma begun to walk into the hotel, Regina trailing behind her as she tried to drink in every aspect of her new surroundings. Once inside, Regina’s disbelief tripled. It was a city of slot machines, loud music and in the corner, Regina swore she saw the beginnings of a Greenwich Village replica. 

She followed Emma to the front desk where the pair checked in, instructed that their room would be on the 37th floor. 

“I wasn’t aware buildings could have 37 floors.” Regina mumbled as she and Emma piled into the elevator. The room had an amazing view over Las Vegas, the Nevada desert stretching out for hundreds of miles past the loud city. Regina was practically glued to the window, the desert sun warming her through the thick glass. Emma smiled, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around the brunette. 

“Is it too much?” Emma asked, her breath against the shell of Regina’s ear. Regina placed her own hands over Emma’s, giving them a small squeeze to reassure her. 

“I will adjust.” Regina replied, still watching the world beneath her. It was strange to be able to look down on civilisation again, only this time they weren’t her subjects and she wasn’t their Evil Queen. Now, she was Regina Mills; The mayor of a small seaside town in Maine. And they weren’t in the Enchanted Forest, they were somewhere realms away from anything that could be the Enchanted Forest. Emma gave Regina a quick peck on the cheek before walking over to her bag and pulling out all the maps she had found at reception. 

“Maybe it’ll help if we go over what we’re gonna do?” Emma suggested, folding her arms. Honestly, she was starting to worry about Regina. It had seemed like a good idea to bring her here before as it would prove to be a complete change of environment but maybe Emma had underestimated how much of a change it would be for the brunette. Regina nodded, turning away from the hot window. Emma gave her a small smile, opening the map up on the bed. 

“We’re here.” Emma explained, pointing to the little icon of the Statue of Liberty. Regina nodded, perching on the other side of the bed. Emma went over each hotel, explaining what was there to see and how they were each themed. Regina began to perk up with each description, not believing Emma for the most part. 

“Can we go now?” Regina asked, her eyes bright like an excited child. Emma smiled, leaning forward and giving her a quick kiss. 

“You might wanna get changed, it’s 105 degrees out.” Emma warned. Regina’s jaw dropped, standing up from where she had been rummaging through her suitcase. 

“I don’t have anything for that!” She protested, her hands falling by her leather skirt. 

“You’ll have to borrow something of mine, then.” Emma shrugged, looking through her own bag and tossing her wife a pair of shorts and a semi-smart cami. Regina didn’t seem that disgusted with the clothes, quickly slipping them on. 

“Madam Mayor!” Emma grinned at Regina’s outfit change, stepping forward when the brunette blushed uncomfortably. “You look great.” 

Regina smiled as Emma pulled her closer, reassuring the mayor that her new attire did suit her. Emma grazed her lips over the olive skin on Regina’s neck, the brunette sighing as she reluctantly pushed the sheriff off her. 

“We won’t get to see anything if we do _that_.” Regina explained in response to Emma’s puppy dog expression at being rejected. 

“Okay, fine.” Emma agreed, picking up her shoulder bag off the bed. The two shared an excited grin before leaving the hotel room, heading downstairs and out into the heat of Las Vegas. They stopped at the Brooklyn Bridge replica outside the hotel, asking a passer-by to snap a picture of them on Emma’s phone. Emma wrapped her arm around her wife, both of them grinning in the desert sun. The stranger returned her phone to her and Emma smiled at the photo, texting it to Henry.

_You should have seen your mom’s confusion when she got here, kid._

Laughing to herself, she pocketed the phone and they continued down the sidewalk. It only took Henry a few minutes to reply. 

_Haha I bet she was! Is she wearing shorts???!?_

Emma snorted at his audacity. 

_Yep, it was a battle._

_Don’t kill each other before you get here, please._

_I’ll try. No promises, though._

Regina rolled her eyes at the blonde, knowing that she was probably texting ridiculous things to their son. There was no reply for a few minutes before a simple message flashed up on Emma’s iPhone. 

_Love you guys. Have fun._

Emma lifted her phone up so Regina could see it, the brunette’s expression completely changing as she grinned and looked at the phone with adoration. They continued their trek and soon enough, they were both sweating and overheating. 

“Are we nearly there, Emma?” Regina asked, stopping underneath the shade of a palm tree and wiping her sweaty forehead. Emma nodded, pointing to the ginormous building in the next block. 

When they finally walked into the wall of air-con as they entered Caesar’s Palace, both of them moaned in delight. 

“Crap it’s hot.” Emma sighed, leaning against the cool marble wall. 

“Mmhmm.” Regina agreed, downing most of the water in her water bottle. 

Once they had sufficiently cooled down, they made their way into Caesar’s Palace. At first, it looked like their own hotel with the vast expanse of slot machines. However, once they turned the corner, it became something else entirely. If either Emma or Regina hadn’t seen it with their own two eyes, they wouldn’t have believed it. 

The interior was designed to be a replica of Rome, shops lining the main pathway. The ceiling was painted the colour of a sunset sky, giving the weird feeling that they were both inside and outside simultaneously. Emma’s eyes widened, meeting Regina’s similar expression. 

“This is crazy.” Emma gasped, both of them walking slowly down the “street”. There was a mixture of expensive shops that Regina wanted to go into and high street shops that Emma insisted Regina went into to buy herself appropriate clothes for the trip. Reluctantly, the mayor trudged into H &M to buy herself shorts and t-shirts as well as splashing out on one nice evening dress. 

After shopping, they spent another hour walking around the forum shops which stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. The sky was always painted the same colour, thoroughly disorientating the pair. 

“No way! Regina!” Emma laughed, grabbing her wife’s attention. Regina looked to where Emma was pointing, chuckling herself. It was a fully stocked ‘Disney’ store - one which Emma was already making her way over to. 

“Emma, no.” Regina sighed, reluctantly following the blonde. Emma had already managed to find all the Snow White merchandise, crying with laughter at the plushie. Regina couldn’t help but laugh herself. 

“We have to get this for her.” Emma laughed, tucking the soft toy under her arm as she browsed the shelves. “Stand in front of this, we need a photo.” 

Emma pointed to the large Snow White cardboard cut out, Regina rolling her eyes. The brunette walked over to it, wrapping her hands around the character’s cardboard neck and grinning at the camera. Emma was wiping tears of laughter away, showing the photo to Regina who started to laugh. 

Emma quickly posted the photo on Instagram, captioning it _#ThrowbackThursday._ It only took a few moments for the residents of Storybrooke on the other side of the country to respond to the photo, most of them replying with laughing faces and wishing them well on their travels. Of course, there was the odd jerk who _still_ hadn’t realised that they should probably be thankful for the fact that they had been gifted with running water, antibiotics and porn. 

Once they’d finished walking around the shop and laughing at the disparities between the cartoons and real life, they bought what they wanted and then spent the rest of the day by the pool. 

“Were there Latinas in the Enchanted Forest?” Emma asked from her sunbed, bringing Regina out of her thoughts. 

“I’m not sure. Why do you ask?” Regina replied, frowning. Emma lifted her sunglasses onto the top of her head, her nose and cheeks already tinted red. 

“I’m pretty sure I can literally watch you change colour.” Emma explained, Regina looking down her body to see what on earth Emma was talking about. She hesitantly shifted the side of her bikini bottoms, gasping when she saw the contrast of skin tone. 

“Oh.” Regina frowned, looking back to Emma. “I could be, I suppose. My father always spoke a language that I couldn’t recognise - probably Spanish, now that I think about it. My mother was always insistent on keeping my skin fair and forbade him from teaching me his language.” 

“Why doesn’t that surprise me.” Emma sighed, picking up her drink. They fell back into silence, enjoying the heat of the late afternoon. The more Regina thought of it, the more she realised Emma may be right. The sun eventually moved behind the edge of the building which, in combination with the harsh desert wind, actually started to make it a bit cold. The pair packed up their belongings and grabbed a cab back to their hotel. 

“What do you want to do tonight?” Regina asked, perching on the bed next to Emma’s side as the blonde flicked through the traveler’s guide. Emma looked up from her book, a smirk on her face. 

“You.” 

“Apart from that, idiot.” Regina laughed, brushing a loose strand of Emma’s long hair behind her ear. Emma kissed the brunette’s wrist, thinking over Regina’s question. 

“I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda pooped.” Emma shrugged. Regina sighed, shifting Emma over and lying next to her. 

“Thank goodness, me too.” 

“So dinner in Greenwich Village then?” Emma asked, pulling Regina closer into her side. The mayor rested her head on Emma’s chest. 

“Sounds like a plan.” She yawned, the pair relaxing into the comfortable bed. Emma lifted her hand and ran her fingers through Regina’s straight, dark hair. She stopped when she noticed that a few of the strands near her forehead had obviously been dampened by sweat from the day and allowed to dry naturally, curling in their own free way. 

“Do you have naturally curly hair?” Emma asked, twirling the small strand against her finger. 

“Yes.” Regina replied, running her hand down Emma’s side. The blonde shivered at the contact, pushing any ideas to the back of her mind. 

“Why don’t you let it be curly then? I bet you’d look gorgeous with curly hair.” Emma asked. She felt Regina shrug against her. 

“Habit, I suppose. My mother always told me that curly hair was not for a Queen.” Regina explained. 

“Jesus, your mum sounds like a real racist piece of work.” Emma commented through gritted teeth. Regina let out a dry laugh of agreement before pushing herself off Emma. 

“Let’s go.” Regina smiled, extending both her hands out to her wife. Emma grinned, accepting them. They made their way downstairs and ended up eating pizza “outside” the New York restaurant, on the “sidewalk”. Emma suggested that they should, because pizza was cheesy and delicious, and doesn’t lie. Once they were finished, they had a quick go at the slot machines before heading back up to their room and getting ready for bed. 

“‘Gina, I’d really love to see your natural hair.” Emma said, though it was phrased as more of a question. The brunette stopped gathering her things for her shower, turning around to Emma. 

“I haven’t really seen it myself.” She admitted, unusually shy. Emma offered her a small smile. 

“Just the once?” She asked, passing Regina’s shampoo to her. The mayor slowly nodded, a bit apprehensive. “…I could join you in the shower if that would he-“

“Get in.” Regina growled, cornering the blonde into the bathroom which was already steamed up from the shower having run for a few minutes. The sheriff laughed, wrapping her arms around her wife and kissing her. 

After their shower, they were both lying on the bed in the hotel-supplied bath robes. Emma had sworn she had never felt so relaxed as they were flicking through the TV channels. Emma stopped at the channel showing Forrest Gump as she remembered seeing the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. earlier and having to explain to Regina what it was. As they both settled into the movie, Emma occasionally ran her hands through Regina’s drying hair. The dark, shiny hair was settling in beautiful ringlets framing the Mayor’s already incredibly tanned face. 

“God, you’re so beautiful.” Emma admitted, her heart swelling as the dark eyes of the woman she loved met her own green ones, the other woman’s face flushing slightly. Regina leaned towards her wife, gently pressing their lips together. 

“I love you.” Regina smiled, her eyes glistening. She ran the pad of her thumb over Emma’s cheek, pressing their foreheads together. Emma was suddenly filled with the overwhelming and frustrating feeling that she just couldn’t get close enough to the woman, no matter how hard she tried. 

“I love you too.” Emma whispered back, lightly tangling her fingers in the Queen’s dark curls she had already started to adore. 

Neither of them made it to the end of the film. They both fell asleep in each other’s arms, exhausted from the heat of the day. 

Emma and Regina’s week in Las Vegas passed by very quickly once Regina managed to get her bearings in the ridiculous city. They visited the Stratosphere (which no matter how hard she pleaded, Emma could not get Regina onto the ride that flew over the top of it), watched the Bellagio fountains at night, spent a day drunk in the Camelot-themed casino, went to see Celine Dion belt out her songs in Caesars and eventually went to the Grand Canyon on the last day. Both Emma and Regina couldn’t believe it when they walked over the small hill by the visitors centre. In front of them, the immense canyon stretched out for miles on end, kilometres wide and kilometres deep. The Colorado River was a small, green-blue string running through the middle of the canyon, surrounded by different coloured strata of rock and landforms. It was almost like no matter how long they looked at the giant wonder, they still couldn’t drink it all in. 

They’d spent a day walking along the South Rim Trail and renting bikes for the afternoon to see as much of the canyon as they could. By the end of the day, they were both burnt and exhausted. 

Regina wasn’t too happy about getting on another plane, but the promise of seeing Henry forced her onto the small flight to San Francisco. From there, it was a thirty minute cab ride to Stanford. Both Emma and Regina were excited to see their son, preparing the tacky gifts that Emma had bought him and planning where they were going to take him out for dinner. They arrived at the campus, making their way up to the dorm room they had dropped Henry off the year before. Regina cleared her throat and then knocked on the door, quickly fixing her hair for her son. Emma smiled at how adorable it was. 

“MOMS!” Henry yelled, quickly pulling both women into his much taller frame. They laughed as he almost crushed them, kissing them both on the head. When he let them go, he was grinning from ear to ear. 

“Hello, Henry.” Regina laughed. Emma leaned up to ruffle their kids’ hair, Henry quickly filling them in on his life and asking how their trip was. Regina was perched on Henry’s desk chair delicately, though it was obvious that Henry never actually did any work at the desk. The whole place was a mess. But, the kid had a pretty darn good GPA so they weren’t gonna complain. There was a pause as they all stopped talking, glad to just sit in the quiet for a second in each others company. 

“Henry?” Regina asked, her voice suddenly stiff. Emma and Henry shared a confused look before looking at the brunette. 

“Yeah?” Henry replied cautiously.

“Who’s bra is on the end of your bed?” Regina asked, raising an eyebrow. Henry flushed bright red as he shoved the pink bra under his duvet, Emma cracking up with laughter. 

“Oh kid.” Emma laughed, finding immense humour in Henry’s humiliation. 

“Well, um, I was actually gonna introduce you guys…but I won’t now.” Henry explained, folding his arms around himself. Regina let out a light laugh.

“No, no, I would like to meet her. I promise I won’t mention it.” Regina smiled, taking Henry’s hand to reassure him.

“Alright. She lives a few halls down, should I go get her?” Henry asked, looking up to his moms. They both nodded, grinning. “Don’t be creepy or I swear to god!”

“We won’t! Right, Regina?” Emma confirmed, trying to be serious. Regina nodded.

“Of course. I’m merely going to demonstrate to her that I have the ability to throw fireballs if she should do anything to hurt you.” Regina shrugged. Henry rolled his eyes.

“Ha ha. Control your woman, Ma.” Henry pointed at Emma. 

“Yeah, that’s gonna happen.” Emma laughed, shoving Henry out the door to go get his girlfriend. While Henry was gone, Emma had a little prod around the room and especially pretended not to notice the small pouch of tobacco shoved at the back of the desk. They were drawn out of their thoughts by the door opening again, Henry entering with a beautiful, petite girl with long brown hair. 

“Mom, Ma, this is Violet.” Henry introduced, begging his moms with his eyes to act cool. 

“Hey Violet, Emma. Don’t let this one intimidate you.” Emma introduced, nodding towards Regina and shaking the girl’s small hand. Regina rolled her eyes.

“Please ignore her. I’m Regina.” Regina smiled, shaking Violet’s hand herself. Violet let out a small giggle at their antics. 

Both Emma and Regina quickly warmed to the small teen who seemed incredibly sweet. Of course, they had to monitor what they were saying as they weren’t sure if Henry had told her his proper origins at the risk of being told he was insane. Bringing up that Henry’s grandma Snow White and other grandad Rumplestiltskin wanted to know how he was getting on probably wouldn’t have been a good idea. 

Violet left in the late afternoon, understanding that Emma and Regina wanted to spend time with their son alone. Henry ended up dragging his Moms into downtown San Francisco to an Irish pub where they served shepherd pies, stews, bangers and mash and soda bread. Regina had never fully tried the cuisine before, pleasantly surprised by the filling and warming food. They allowed Henry one glass of wine as they ate, the pub too dark to be able to tell that Henry was actually under 21. 

They stepped back out onto the street in San Francisco, Emma and Regina both shocked at how cold it was. Regina started to shiver, Emma wrapping her arm around her wife as they walked to their hotel. Henry hugged them goodbye and promised to treat them to brunch in the morning before they left for Maine.

Emma and Regina spent the night curled up in the comfortable hotel bed watching any movies that came on the TV. Most of them were terrible, Emma and Regina laughing and mocking it the whole way through. They’d created a small little universe just for themselves, the lights of San Francisco trickling into the room and lightly framing their faces. Regina had hopped in the shower when they got back and allowed her hair to dry naturally again, Emma wrapping the small ringlets around her finger. 

“Do you think this trip helped?” Emma asked, trailing her knuckle down Regina’s jaw. 

“Definitely.” Regina smiled, readjusting herself in the bed so she and Emma were nose to nose. 

“I’m so glad I married you.” Emma admitted, smiling herself when Regina let out an uncharacteristic giggle. 

“Likewise, dear.” Regina leaned forward and kissed her wife, running her hands down the blonde’s side. 

Emma had never been one to think about her future in a hopeful way. She was used to living day to day, struggling to get through them in her darkest of times. Now, her future was filled with Regina, Henry, her parents, friends and Regina’s lasagne. It was full of love and hope and all that crap that Snow would not shut up about and there was only one person Emma could think of to thank for that - Regina. 


End file.
